Gabrielle Meyer is an ECPA bestselling author. She has worked for state and local historical societies and loves writing fiction inspired by real people, places, and events. She currently resides along the banks of the Mississippi River in central Minnesota with her husband and four children. By day, she’s a busy homeschool mom, and by night she pens fiction and nonfiction filled with hope.
In this interview, Gabrielle shares some of her insights into her latest Time Travel Romance novel, Across the Ages.
FF: Across the Ages is the fourth in your current series, Timeless, and with every installment, this collection of stories continues to pick up steam. Can you share a little bit about where this series started and where we are now with book four?
The series started with Libby who lived in 1774 and 1914, navigating the early days of the American Revolution and WWI. The second story followed her daughter, Maggie, as she pursued her passion for medicine in 1861, 1941, and 2001 in Washington, DC. The third book took another turn as we watched Maggie’s identical twin daughters, Hope and Grace, travel together between the Salem Witch Trials in 1692 and early aviation in 1912. The fourth book veers off a little to Caroline, who is an unknown cousin of the twins. She was raised without her time-crossing mother and has no knowledge of other time-crossers or why she has the gift. Her story is a quest for answers.
FF: If you had to choose five words to describe this book, what would they be?
Adventurous, thrilling, mysterious, redemptive, and compelling.
FF: Your previous books in the series feature all sorts of intriguing historical settings—from the Salem Witch Trials to the attack on Pearl Harbor that drew the USA into WWII to the birth of aviation and more. What new adventures can readers look forward to in Across the Ages?
In Across the Ages, we travel to Paris, France, on May 21, 1927, the day aviator Charles A. Lindbergh becomes the first man to fly across the Atlantic Ocean. We hang out with gangsters and flappers in the Wabasha Street Caves in St. Paul, Minnesota, and have a conversation with Ernest Hemingway. Then we’re off to the Pirate Republic in Nassau, Bahamas, where we look for lost treasure on the Florida coast and participate in a sword fight on a pirate ship in 1727.
FF: What led you to choose these two distinct historical and geographic settings—Prohibition era St. Paul, Minnesota, and in the thick of 1700s piracy in the Caribbean—for this book?
Both eras have more in common than people might think. Piracy began out of a new law that said privateers (men hired by the King to overtake enemy vessels) were no longer legal. It put hundreds of men out of work, so they continued capturing enemy vessels and even turned on their own countrymen and overtook English ones, as well. The gangster era of the 1920s began when alcohol was deemed illegal by the US government, so people started to make and sell it illegally. Both eras saw rampant crime because individuals were making a lot of money from the new laws. I’ve always been intrigued by these eras and wanted to put my heroine in the heart of both. I chose to put her in St. Paul since it was a haven for gangsters because of the corrupt police department. The police allowed criminals asylum if they checked in, paid a fee, and promised not to commit crime while in the city. It made St. Paul one of the safest cities in America—and Minneapolis one of the most dangerous.
FF: Across the Ages is an excellent title for your fourth book in this time-travel series. What does this phrase encapsulate for you when you think about the places you’ve gone in your writing of this series?
This series has become an epic journey across the ages, from 1692 to 2001, with plans to go even further back in time. As someone who can’t choose a favorite historical era, I love that I can go anywhere, meet anyone, and live through any historical event that captures my imagination.
FF: Is there one (or more!) thing(s) you discovered in your research for this book that you found especially interesting?
Something that surprised me in my research was discovering that pirate ships were run as a democracy. They voted for their captain, and they could remove him from authority whenever they felt he wasn’t leading them well. Even if the ship they were on was one that he had captured. Each man was given a share of the profit and could voice their opinions on where the ship went and what activities they undertook.
FF: What has the experience of writing this series been like for you—especially in light of the positive reactions from readers that keep pouring in with each new addition?
When the idea came to me, I quickly saw the first three books play out in my mind, and I couldn’t wait to write them. But after I finished When the Day Comes and waited for its release, I began to have doubts. I knew the concept was phenomenal—I was just afraid that I hadn’t done it justice. I kept thinking that maybe God had given the idea to the wrong author, and that someone with a bigger imagination could have done a better job. But God has since reassured me that He didn’t make a mistake (something my characters often learn). The stories have resonated with readers in ways I never dreamed. I’ve heard from countless people who have told me, sometimes with tears in their eyes, that the books ministered to their hearts or that their love for reading has been reignited with this series. I’m honored and humbled that God entrusted me with these stories.
FF: What were your hopes for how this series would impact readers when the idea for it was first born?
I have three things I always hope for when I write a new story. I want to honor God, ignite interest in history, and give readers a compelling story that they can’t put down. Whenever a reader contacts me and tells me they’ve grown closer to God, done research on one of the historical events I’ve shared, or they stayed up way too late to finish a book, it makes my day.
FF: What are you most excited for readers to experience as they pick up this time-travel story?
I love stories because they spark our imaginations and allow us to live a thousand different lives. Whether from a book, a movie, or when someone is telling me about something that happened to them, I get excited when the story captures my attention, and I can’t wait to find out how it ends. As I write the Timeless Series, I’m most excited for readers to imagine what it would be like to live as a time-crosser, to wonder, ask questions, and explore the endless possibilities.
FF: What would you say to the reader who is just now hearing about this series? Do they have to start with book one or can they dive in at any point? What would you recommend?
Each story stands alone and can be read out of order—however, because each story has twists and turns, it’s best to read them in order so the surprises aren’t spoiled.
FF: Can you give us the inside scoop on what you’re working on next?
I just finished writing the fifth book in the Timeless Series, and it is another intriguing story, exploring two unique eras in history! The heroine lives in London in 1888 and in Washington, DC in 1938. She is a curator for the Smithsonian and is invited to England in 1938 to put together an exhibit about Jack the Ripper. While there, she learns that her sister from her 1888 timeline is Jack’s last victim! Faced with several choices, she will ultimately have to decide if she’ll unmask the man history has chosen to keep hidden.
Across the Ages
Timeless Series #4
Gabrielle Meyer
Bethany House
Genres: Historical Romance, Time Travel Romance
Release Date: November 5, 2024
ISBN-10: 0764244205
ISBN-13: 978-0764244209
Book Summary:
Caroline holds a deep secret. Living in 1727 and 1927 simultaneously, each night she goes to sleep in one life and wakes up in the other. In search of answers to her unique existence, Caroline stumbles upon a letter from her mother hinting at her own experiences as a time-crosser, sending Caroline on a daring quest to uncover the truth. In 1727, Caroline disguises herself as a cabin boy and joins a ship sailing for the Bahamas, her mother’s last known location, where she crosses paths with a ruthless but handsome pirate and is caught in a web of secrets, deception, and unexpected alliances.
In 1927 St. Paul, Minnesota, Caroline grapples with her other life as the daughter of a renowned preacher. Her two older brothers have fallen prey to the corruption rampant during Prohibition, and Caroline struggles to keep their involvement hidden to save her father’s career. As her search for answers about her time-crossing leads her to the dangerous yet exciting world of speakeasies, Caroline enlists the help of a childhood friend who is now a police officer. But with her family’s future at risk and their loyalties tested, Caroline faces a life-altering decision that could reshape her destiny.
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